This was Heather's second time on the show and a POTG record setting fourth visit for Travis. They provided expert insight into the situation in Phoenix as it stands now leading up to the hearings Thursday and Friday of this week.

In what has become basically a pissing match between Gary Bettman and Jim Ballsillie, most folks fail to consider the plight of the fans and the fact that the value of the franchise is going down with each passing day. Listen to the podcast to hear a perspective you will not get elsewhere. Thanks to Travis and Heather for their keen insight and perspective.

Follow Heather on Twitter at the hearings later this week @TheYoyesDiva. Her play by play of the courtroom action is unparalleled.

In Phoenix...

Breaking news during the podcast was sketchy but the Toronto Star is now reporting that Jim Ballsillie raised his bid to $242.5 million by offering up to $50 million to the City of Glendale to drop their opposition. The math doesn't work on the surface and part of it includes rent on the arena for a portion of the upcoming season. Ballsillie's new "deadline" is September 21 for sale approval with closing by October 2.

As always, Mirtle has the final word on the latest bid. His coverage and analysis of the Coyotes saga has been the best since the story broke last spring.

Last night, Howard Bloom of Sports Business News was giddy Tweeting that Ballsillie's bid was a done deal. "Jim Balsillie is a closer and he will end up getting the Yotes. They will play in Phoenix for 1 year and then move to Hamilton. Here's how Diamond Jim gets the Coyotes: 242.5m bid, 35m operating loses for 09-10 season, 100m relocation fee = he WINS, $377M DONE DEAL. Just do the math, use common sense and the Coyotes end up in Hamilton -- bye, bye Desert Dogs, GREAT move for hockey and the NHL."

The Glendale City Council is meeting this morning to talk about the Ice Edge proposal and now they will have a lot more to think about with the $50 million offer from the Ballsillie camp.

The Forechecker is on a boat in the Caribbean but continues with his series on Predator Bloggers at On The Forecheck. Dirk was also asked to be a contributor to this year's version of the prestigious Maple Leaf's Annual.

Jim Diamond at the Examiner puts out his preseason Power Ratings for the NHL and the Predators fare better than in most of the others that we have seen.

Lyle Richardson from Spector's Hockey has several bounce back players for the coming season and the list includes Dan Ellis.

Admiral's Short Shifts adds more to the rumor of the Preds signing a defenseman in a post from yesterday with Christian Backman and Chris Chelios mentioned. Backman is a 39 year old Swedish defenseman that played 56 games for Columbus last year. I still want Chris Chelios. He would be far more entertaining.

Around the NHL...

We mentioned it yesterday but this is such a huge project it is worth another take. Tyler at NHL Digest put together a calendar of epic proportions that has the birthday of every player that has played in the NHL. Expect to hear more today from Tyler as this is the official launch date for the project.

Trouble is looming on Long Island in meeting Charles Wang's October 3 deadline. Nick Giglia and B D Gallof write about it in separate posts.

Cycle Like the Sedins looks at fantasy goalies and doesn't have as high an opinion of Pekka Rinne as we do in Nashville.

Off Topic... It has been five years since the rash of hurricanes swept across Florida leaving massive destruction behind. One of the more well known pictures was of the First Baptist Church of Cocoa Beach where the steeple was impaled upside down in the roof. One of my best friends, Pastor Ken Babington, reflects on what happened in this story at Florida Today. One of these days, I'll write about my adventure when I went down for a few days to help with the church's rebuild.

1 comment:

I know this isn't going to be popular, especially after what we just went through, but I'm almost to the point of saying let Balsille have the Coyotes. Just so he can have his team and we don't have to hear this same stuff every yr. Just my opinion.........

One of my My Other Gigs

Discount Predator Tickets from POTG

PredsOnTheGlass has partnered with the Nashville Predators to bring you special discount pricing on tickets to every game. Follow this link and click on the game tickets that you want and then enter the special offer code preds to receive the best prices available directly from Ticketmaster.